[GMo]

I'm running the 8443. It's great for the money, I paid about 180$ as a demo unit from a local shop about 6 months ago for it.
I have an external crossover, audio control 6xs, I use but the internal x-over is pretty flexible for a HU.
Unlike quite a few of the HU's with a built in P/S, there is no sound quality degradation due to it. When I listened to the 8443 vs the 8053 (the latter costing 200$ more) , I couldn't tell any differences.
Before the 8443 I was running the Alpine 9833, and the eclipse is more flexible with it's control and IMO the sound was slightly cleaner.
Previous to that I ran a pioneer 940 premier for a while. I can't stand the FM reception on Pioneers, but it had great pickup. The units themselves are nice, but I definitely prefer my Eclipse over the pioneer. Although I don't know how the 940 compares to the 860.

 

[GMo]

Yea thanks for the reply, I'm headed towards the 8443 or 8053, not sure i need BLA's so i'm sure i'll prolly go with the 8443 with the built in PS, is there a defeatable switch for the internal amp on it, as i would either run it with the amp off or when i go 3 way up front just using 1 set of outputs for a set of tweets. But still trying to decide which would be best for me, and i still have a few weeks till i'll be able to purchase anything.

NP
There aren't any controls that I could find which enable you to defeat the PS, but when I compared the 8443 to the 8053, I couldn't tell any difference in SQ, the PS is really well isolated from the rest of the unit and there is no audible induced noise. It was the biggest concern to me, so I listened for a few day to each before making my decision.

I didn't need the 16/8v balanced RCA outs either.

 

[GMo]

You Eclipse using Gents, not having any issues with turn on/off noises/pops?

No problems as of yet...

In the end deciding on say an Alpine 9835 & a Eclipse 8443 wont make or break the end result... worry about the features you need. The reason I say this is because if there was an obvious advantage, it would be common knowledge by now...

I totally agree.
Both of those would be a great HU, pick it based on features

 

[GMo]

The fact is that Alpine, Eclipse, Kenwood, Pioneer, Clarion all make excellent products. Certain models fit people's needs better.

I don't worry too much about SQ claims, because those are opinnions & it makes no sense for me to choose based on what someone thinks sounds better because quite frankly, that is their opinnion & I seriously think that if there was some truth to all the SQ claims, it would be common knowledge by now & we wouldn't be having this conversation...

That's a good answer.